in the Rebellion, and served in the 59th Ill. Vol.Inf.; along with his brothers-

William Henry, John Wesley, and Nathan Alonzo were soldiers inthe same company and regiment

of which their brother-in-law was the chief officer.All served through the war.

The record of the brothers and sisters of Mr. Terpening is as follows:

Maria T. is the wife of George W. Brown, of Galesburg, IL, the inventor of the corn planter that bears his name; Olive Foxie's note: From a descendant of Olive Terpening Hibbard, I have found out Olive who was sister to my 3rd great grandfather was never married to anyone else but her husband; Frestus I. Hibbard; is Mrs. Boswell. Where they came up with this Mrs. Boswell they could not of been referring to his sister Olive. I have her obituary.

Peter lives in Vernon Co.,Mo., George is a resident on section 28, in Kelley Township; David lives onsection, 33 of the same;

William H. is a citizen of Pettis Co., Mo.

Mr. T. has held various township offices, such as Collector, Assessor, School Director

and Superintendent of Highways.He was appointed Postmaster of the office at Utah,

under the administration of Zachary Taylor, and held the office for eight years.During the late war,

he was enrolling officer.He wanted to enlist himself and follow the fortunes of his three

(actually it was four sons) sons in the service of his country, but owing to his age,

the recruiting officer would not accept him.His friends very justly thought he

had already shown sufficienpatriotism and done enough by sending to the front three of his sons,

actually it was four sons, Namely Harrison, John Wesley, William, and Nathan,

two of his sons-in law and one brother, Samuel Terpening.Politically, he is a Republican ,

and he was elected President of the Union League.

His wife is a member of the Methodist Church.

As one of the best known of the early pioneers of this part of the State, as well as a venerable

and highly respected citizen of the county, the portrait of John P. Terpening will be regarded

as one of the most valued in this ALBUM.

John P. and Mindwell’schildren were:

Smith Terpening married Isabella Armstrong

John Wesley Terpening married Jennie Pearson

Sarah Ann Terpening married William M. Armstrong

{They were married on the same day as Harrison and Martha below. Always

wondered if it was a double wedding at Tylerville Church.}

Harrison Peck Terpening, I am descended through him. to John Thomas Terpening.

Olive Terpening married William Bracken Armstrong

Nathan Alonzo Terpening married Carrie Grahm

Charles W. Terpening married Mary Armstrong

Edwin Ezekiel Terpening married Cynthia Adcock

This is a story written

by Jessamine Terpening Glass,

daughter of Smith and Isabella Armstrong Terpening,

Jessamine married Fred Ulysses Glass;

as told to her by her

grandparents on their50th Wedding Anniversary.

AN OLD SETTLER'S STORY

The subject of this sketch, Mr. John Peck Terpening, was born in

Saratoga Co., NY, April 12, 1814. He was

reared on the homestead and received a good common school education.

At the age of twenty-one, he became a grocery clerk at Rexford Flats in the county of his nativity.

"In May of that year, 1835, he started for Illinois. He stopped in various places in the

intervening states of New York

and Ohio. When he reached Jackson, Ohio, he came the rest of the way to Illinois on foot.

He bought a claim in Rock Island County agreeing to pay $450.00

and take possession the 1st of March. In September of that year,

he returned to Saratoga County for the sake of full filling a promise to a young lady

named Mindwell Smith, to who he was joined in marriage September 24, 1835.

"After their marriage, accompanied by his father and family (his father's family

consisted of 11 children) (plus the father and mother) 14 in all,

they set out for the West. They started on the Erie Canal by which they reached Buffalo,

whence they took a steamboat to Cleveland. From that city they took passage

on a canal to Portsmouth on the Ohio River, where they embarked on a steamboat

and reached the Mississippi River, on which they journeyed to St. Louis. The freezing

of the river detained them at St. Louis a month. They arrived at Quincy, Illinois on the

1st day of January 1836. No vacant house could be found in the town and in

company with other immigrants they took possession of a camp three miles from the city,

where they remained a month. They then found a house

where they were comfortably situated. "About the first of February, he and his father

set out for Rock Island County to see the claim he had previously

bought but, when they were about thirty miles south of Monmouth, they met a man,

who was then living where Moline is now located and when, he knew, was living

near the place he had purchased. He learned from this gentleman that

his claim had again been sold, the man getting only $5.00 more than he was to pay.

"After hearing this, they thought it best to go to Henderson, Knox Co., and look around.

This they did and finally found a desirable location in Kelly Township, Warren co.,

Father and son returned to Quincy where the family remained until spring.

"About this time, one of his sisters, Elizabeth, was married to a Quincy merchant, Mr. Jones,

who had a home prepared for her in Quincy. Another of his sisters, Annis, remained with

the Jones' while the rest of the family with a team of horses and a covered wagon

drove to their new home.

There were few improvements on the place only a log cabin and a stable and

four acres of broken prairie. March 9, 1836 was their arrival date.

The cabin was 18 X 20 ft. Mr. Billups, the man living there, and his family of ten

and Mr. John P Terpening and wife, father and family making twenty-two in all, lived in

this log cabin for three weeks. "The floor, our only bed, was covered', They said.

At the end of three weeks, Mr. Billups had completed his house in the vicinity and moved out.

"The young married couple, John and Mindwell, rented another farm the first year,

and in 1837 he bought 80 acres of land. It was nearly all covered with timber

but a small cabin was there of which he and his wife took possession for a short time,

until amore comfortable and convenient dwelling could be built. They lived in their new log

house for seven years. Then they bought another farm where they lived 5 or 6 years,

When he again sold and bought the place where he now lives. On the hill on the southeast

corner at Utah and Tylerville.)

"During the first year after their arrival in Kelly Twp., Warren Co., IL, the men

were busy gathering their crops when Mr. and Mrs. Jones arrived at the log cabin to tell

them of the death of their sister who had been staying with them. It was one day while in the

company with a young gentleman at a picnic a few miles out of Quincy that she was taken ill

and asked her escort, Mr. Rodger, to take her home. she lived only three days afterwards.

They buried her at Quincy. "While Mr. and Mrs. Jones were here, Mrs. Elizabeth Terpening

Jones was taken sick and died. She was the first to be buried in the Terpening Graveyard.

Then her parents thought they would like to have both daughters buried at the same place.

After remaining here until cold weather, Mr. Jones and John Peck Terpening started to Quincy

in a sleigh (bob sled). they reached Quincy on a Saturday evening. Sunday they went to

church and then to this sister's grave. In the meantime his brother-in-law had engaged some

men to dig up the remains, which they did that afternoon, placing it in his store.

Mr. JP knew nothing of it until Monday morning when he went to the store with his brother-in-law.

After he found it out he concluded to start home that day with the corpse.

"The first day he got along all right but the second day as he was going up a hill, the whipple

trees became loose and the horses came very near getting away from him. The sled went

back down the hill. About this time a man came along and helped him get started again.

The third day he got along all right until towards evening, he discovered a pack of wolves

were following him. It would be easier for you to imagine his feelings than it would be for

me to try to tell. He says there was one big black wolf and the rest were gray. It was not long

before they were thick on all sides but he drove as fast as his team would go.

As he neared Monmouth, the wolves began to disappear. They had followed his about six miles.

He stopped in Monmouth, ate his supper while his team was fed then started on his way again

reaching home in the middle of the night. The next day they buried his sister beside the other. The grave yard still bears the Name "Terpenning Cemetery".

Terpening/Armstrong Reunion in September of 2001.

There has long been a Terpening/Armstrong

Reunion in and around Galesburg, IL, for over the last 60 years.

It is still held every year The Sunday

Before Labor Day at the Lincoln Pavilion, Lincoln Park, Galesburg, IL.

It belonged to David Terpening, brother to John Peck Terpening.

David wrote his name in the book on the front page.

David also has a biographyin the book.

There is also a picture of John P Terpening on page

560 and hisbiography sketch is on page 561-563.

1860 Warren Co
Federal Census --- Kelly Township

below are my Terpening Ancestors along with related families.
They either married into or were related to John Peck & Mindwell
Smith Terpening.